Dr Enoch Bessah

The Pra River Basin is the primary producer of cacao, Ghana’s most valuable economic crop. Cacao leads cassava, the second most important food security crop in Ghana. The Pra River Basin is one of the top three areas in the country that produces the best food security crop, maize.

Erratic rainfall patterns as a result of climate change are causing crop failures in Ghana. The phenomenon is leading to yield reduction and food insecurity in the region. Smallholder farmers, who are most vulnerable to this variability, also do not have access to weather forecasts and climate research. In the basin, predicted rainfall will reduce by almost 1.8% between 2020 and 2049, causing a shift from a bi-modal to a mono-modal rainfall pattern, starting in late March and ending in November. The mean temperature was projected to increase by just over one degree in the same period. These projected changes could reduce surface water yield in the basin’s 2mm – 16mm range with floods and drought as consequences.

Farmers are informed about climate change through personal observations and radio broadcasts. They adapt by changing planting dates, but only about 30% have access to weather information through radio broadcasts. The accuracy levels of these forecasts over the years have yet to be determined. Farmers in the Pra River Basin rely on indigenous skills in predicting weather conditions for farm-level decisions.

Dr Enoch Bessah’s research will investigate and seeks to improve climate services in the Pra River Basin by integrating scientific and indigenous forecasts for farm-level decision-making. This will be done by identifying the specific weather and seasonal climate information needs of farmers; assessing the skill of seasonal climate forecast models currently available in meeting the farmers’ markets; determining the performance of indigenous and scientific forecasts in the study area; and assessing the influence of weather and climate information on farm-level decision-making.

The research will explore the way in which indigenous knowledge is engaged in water management and food production in the basin, and seek to improve scientific weather and seasonal climate forecasts for a reliable and acceptable climate information service in the area. Assessing indigenous forecast potential and co-producing reliable climate information at farm level will strengthen the partnership between farmers and the Ghana Meteorological Agency to expand the availability of weather information services. The study results will serve as an important resource in formulating strategic ways to improve climate services in Ghana and potentially help alleviate food insecurity while increasing the economic status of farmers.

Making use of citizen science to collect and manage indigenous forecasts and to observe rainfall will provide insights that can be used for future engagement in the fields of meteorology and atmospheric science. Citizen science will create a second-generation climate information service for the Pra River Basin and identify the specific climate information needs for climate-smart agriculture.